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35TII Congress, > HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. J Ex. Doc. 
1st Session. \ > No. 116. 



CLAIM OF JOSEPfl E. JOHNSON AND F. J. WHEELING. 



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LETTER 

FROM 

THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR, 

IN RELATION TO 

The claim of Joseph E. Johnson and F. J. Wheeling. 



May 10, 1858. — Referred to the Committee of Ways and Means. 



Department of the Interior, 

Ma7j 4, 1858. 

Sir : I liave the honor to transmit herewith a copy of a report ad- 
dressed to this department on the 22d ultimo by the Acting Commis- 
sioner of Indian Affairs, in relation to the claim of Messrs. Joseph E. 
Johnson and F. W. Wheeling against the United States for com- 
pensation for expenses incurred by them in the transportation and 
subsistence of a delegation of Uniaha Indians, who visited Washing- 
ton in 1851— '52. 

It will be perceived that the Indian Office recommends the re-appro- 
priation of the sum of three hundred and thirty-five dollars, being the 
unexpended balance of the appropriation of three thousand dollars, 
made June 30, 1852, for defraying the expenses of the Omaha delega- 
tion, which was carried to the surplus fund in June, 1857. Con- 
curring in the views of the Commissioner, I would respectfully recom- 
mend that this amount be re-appropr"ated to enable the department 
to effect a. final settlement with Messrs. Johnson and Wheeling. 
Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

J. THOMPSON, 

Secretary. 

Hon. James L. Orr, 

Speaker House of Representatives. 



Department op the Interior, 
Office Indian Affairs, April 22, 1855. 

Sir: In compliance with the request of B. Henn, esq., per his let- 
ter to this office of the 22d ultimo, I have the honor to refer to you, 
for your consideration and decision in the premises^ the following 



2 JOSEPH E. JOHNSON AND F. J. WHEELING. 

letters connected with the claim of Joseph E. Johnson and F. J. 
Wheeling, for the expenses of a delegation of Omaha Indians, who 
visited this city in the winter of 1851-'52 : 

No. 1 is the letter of F. J. Wheeling and J. E. Johnson, dated 
February 9, 1852, enclosing a paper wliich they style an "Abstract 
of expenses of the Omaha Indian delegation now in Washington, 
conducted and in part paid by F. J. Wheeling and J. E. Johnson/' 
amounting in the aggregate to $7,959 70. 

No. 2, dated February 16, 1852, is a letter from this office, refer- 
ring the above mentioned communication from Messrs. Wheeling and 
Johnson, together with the "Abstract of expenses," to the Hon. A. 
H. Stuart, Secretary of the Interior, recommending that the necessary 
expenses of the delegation "while in Washington, and of their return 
to heir homes, should be paid by the government," and giving as an 
opinion that $2,500 woukl be sufficient for that purpose, at the same 
time suggesting that Congress should be asked to appropriate that 
amount. 

No. 3, dated February .0, 1852, is the reply to a letter of Messrs. 
Wheeling and Johnson, in which the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 
in speaking of the appropriation asked for, says: " I regret to learn 
that the ajipropriation is not likely to be made for several weeks, and 
1 entirely agree with you that the Indians should not be kept here 
for such a length of time. All I can say is, that when the appro- 
priation is made, so much as shall be necessary will be applied to the 
payment of their expenses while here, and the remainder will be paid 
to you on satis tactorv evidence that the Indians have been safely con- 
ducted back to their homes." 

No. 4 is a letter from J. E. Johnson, dated at Cincinnati, March 8, 
1852, reporting the progress of the Oma])as, in which he says that, 
from various causes, the expenses of the Indians have been much 
higher than anticipated, and expresses the hope tliat an appropriation 
will be made to indemnify, &c. 

No. 5, dated June 5, 1853, is a letter filed by the Hon. A. W. 
Babbitt, addressed to him by J. E. Johnson, requesting Mr. B. to 
"collect the balance of the appropriation for the benefit of the Omaha 
Indian delegation that went to Washington in 1851-'52." An ac- 
count is enclosed in this letter, amounting to $1,450 in favor of " J. 
E. Johnson, surviving partner of Johnson and Wheeling." 

No. 6 is a letter from the Hon. Messrs. Dodge, G. W. Jones, and 
Bernhart Henn, dated January 10, 1854, who request the early and 
favorable consideration of the claim of J. E. Johnson, Mr. Wheeling 
being deceased. , 

No. 7 is the reply to the above, dated February 18, 1854, in which 
Messrs. Dodge, Jones, and Henn, were informed that the Commissioner 
did not feel authorized to comply with Mr. Johnson's demand, in the 
absence of the testimony establishing the fact, that his expenditures, 
on account of the transportation of the delegation of Indians from 
this city to their home, amounted in the aggregate to the sum claimed 
by him, and that which has heretofore been paid on said account. 

No. 8 is a letter of the Hon. A. C. Dodge and B. Henn, dated 
March 24, 1854, enclosing two letters from J. E. Johnson, and asking 



JOSEPH E. JOHNSON AND F. J. WHEELING. 3 

that an estimate of such amount as the Commissioner should think in 
justice shoukl he made to Messrs, Johnson and Wheeling, in order 
that the matter might he suhmilttd to Congress for its consideration. 

No. 9, dated March 27, 1854, is the rejdy to Messrs. Dodge and 
Henn, informing them of the previous action of this office in regard 
to the claim of Messrs. Wheeling and Johnson. The letter concluded 
thus : "If Congress should see fit to appropriate money to reimhurse 
Messrs. Wheeling and Johnson, I am of o})inion that the amount to 
he paid them should not exceed the sum of $2,000." 

No. 10, dated July 14, 1854, from the Hon. B. Henn, enclosing the 
letter of L. R. Smoot addressed to the Hon. A. W. Babhitt, July 1, 
1853^ and the affidavits of A. W. Bahhitt and Joseph E. Johnson, 
in relation to the claim of the latter. Mr. Smoot, it appears, was, at 
the time of his writing, a clerk in this office, and in his letter referred 
to says : ''I am authorized hy him (Mr. Mix) to say to you, that the 
balance of the appropriation unexpended will be remitted to the 
superintendent of Indian affairs at St. Louis, to he turned over to Major 
Burrow's successor, for payment to Mr. Johnson, as desired by you, 
at an early day." 

No. 11, B. Henn, esq., under date of March 22, 1858, gives the 
history of the claim of Mr. Johnson, and makes claim on the behalf 
of Mr. Johnson for the unexpended portion of the appropriation of 
August 30, 1852, for the expenses of the delegation of the Omaha 
Indians. 

The only appropriation made by Congress for the purpose referred 
to was for $3,000, and may be found in the act of August 30, 1852, 
vol. 10, page 47, out of which it appears that the sum of $2,665 has 
been expended, leaving a balance of $335, which balance was, on the 
30th June, 1857, carried to tlie surplus fund. 

After a full consideration of all the facts elicited from the foregoing 
correspondence, I would respectfully suggest that the balance of the 
$3,000 ai)propriated on the 30tli June, 1852, for the expenses of a 
certain party of Omaha Indians, &c.., being $335, which was carried 
to the surplus fund on the 30th June, 1857, be estimated for, and on 
its re-appropriation that it be paid over to Joseph E. Johnson as the 
surviving partner of Wheeling and Johnson, on his executing a re- 
ceipt in full for all demands on account of services and expenditures 
in conducting said party of Indians in the winter of 1851-'52. 
Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

CHARLES E. MIX, 
Acting Commissioner. 

Hon. Jacob Thompson, 

Secretary of the Interior. 



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